Determinants of Psychoactive Substance Use among Adolescents and Young Adults in South-East Nigeria: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background:  Substance use has become a significant public health issue, particularly among the youth population, with 1 in 20 to 1 in 5 people aged 15 years and above reported to be involved in substance use. This has been linked with several factors, including socio-economic and environmental influences. Hence, this study was aimed at systematically evaluating the determinants of psychoactive substance use among adolescents and young adults in South-East Nigeria. Methods: This study was conducted as a systematic review, which searched and retrieved relevant data from multiple electronic databases following a comprehensive search strategy Which involved the use of relevant keywords and Medical Education Subject Headings (MeSH) terms, in combination with Boolean operators. Results: Five (5) studies out of the initially retrieved record of 148 were eligible for analysis. The studies involved a total of 2993 respondents. The result showed that alcohol and tobacco were the most prevalent psychoactive substance use, while peer group influence, gender, age, education level, accommodation status, family structure, orphanhood, maternal employment, substance accessibility and availability were the prevailing determinants of substance use among the respondents. Conclusion: Tackling the use of psychoactive substances among the youths in South East Nigeria requires a multidimensional approach, integrating public health, education, social welfare, and legal frameworks.